Lightbulb (Rot Creature)
About The Lightbulb This article is about the rot creature. For the moth character, see [https://moth-ponies.fandom.com/wiki/Lightbulb Lightbulb] The Forest has all sorts of bizarre and unconventional life growing within - and the Lightbulb is one such fungus. Found in fungal fields lacking the covering canopy of the Forest, Lightbulbs shrink away to small glowing stalks during the day but grow to towering iridescent stalks at night. The soft fungal stalks sway in the wind, and the bright bioluminescent light it produces at night provides an almost hypnotic effect on those that have more than simple sensory pits, though Rotbeasts with compound eyes are affected tenfold. The blue light produced by the bulbs makes it easy to spot, a handful of beacons illuminating what appears to be a relatively safe field to camp or rest in. Of course, not all is as it appears. Though above ground it looks as though there are multiple individual Lightbulb organisms, in reality it’s a single large fungus connected through a large substrate of knobby tendrils. These tendrils are sensitive to vibration and help the organism detect potential meals on the surface. Once suitable prey is found, dozens of tendrils erupt from the ground and attempt to restrict the movement of the unfortunate creature. After subduing its future food, it forms a sealed ball of tendrils around its prey and begins secreting caustic fluids through its tendrils and into its new makeshift stomach. These corrosive fluids make short work of most other fungus-based Rotbeasts, dissolving them into a slurry of nutrients in mere minutes. When all is said and done and the tendrils have re-absorbed the fluid (now filled with usable nutrients), they retreat back into the soil to await more potential candidates for digestion. Anything that isn’t just a glorified walking mushroom stands much more of a chance of survival, of course. Chitin appears much less digestible, and as such the secreted acids appear to lack chitinase - essentially making most insects much tougher to metaphorically grind up. Us mammals, though we lack the tough skin that many fungal Rotbeasts have, are not made of mushroom and as such do not dissolve under these corrosive acids. Well, not as fast as your favorite pizza toppings, anyway. Though it is not quite fully understand its methods yet, it is evident that the Lightbulb was designed to consume mostly fungal matter. Its specially-designed acids tear right through this kind of flesh; anything else will simply experience a chemical burning for a bit. The Lightbulb has an incredible distaste for anything that isn’t fungoid in nature. As horrific as it is to be crushed and burned in a stomach made of mushroom-tentacles, it only happens to non-fungal species for a few moments before the organism violently unravels its “stomach-sack” and recalls its tendrils to the earth without attempting to reabsorb most of its secreted fluids. It doesn’t seem to want to waste any time digesting something that isn’t worth it, and has developed a means of detecting nutrients that fit a certain kind of prey when reabsorbed. It acts first and thinks later; I have reason to believe that it gains so much energy from a single meal that it can afford to “taste” everything that comes within range. Less “traditionally” edible objects, such as fabrics and clothes, are also spat out (although a little worse for wear, usually). Completely inedible things such as pens, shoes, fruitcake, and Ember’s cooking are also summarily ‘regurgitated’. Despite being averse to consuming Mothponies, we are able to eat Lightbulb tendrils just fine. Many report that, when drained of its caustic fluids and fried in a skillet, its taste is reminiscent of seafood. Many also report that, when NOT drained of its caustic fluids and fried in a skillet, its taste is reminiscent of, quote, “that taste you get when you haven’t washed all of the throw-up out of your mouth after vomiting”. The Lightbulb’s glowing bulb is hollow and its outer membrane feels like some sort of ‘sticky’ plastic. The method of its bioluminescence appears to be some kind of specialized bacteria that feed off of the gaseous byproducts of digestion, routed up through the hollow stalk of the bulb. When prepared correctly, the membrane of the bulb tastes light and sweet, and is often melted down and used as a base in local gelatins. The tendrils of the Lightbulb appear to function as a sort of growing mycelium substrate. Tendrils can be lopped off and replanted, and with enough time a small segment will grow into a full-size Lightbulb organism. As one might expect, it’s not as simple as “just cut off a part of it” and “plant it in a pot”. For one, it takes forever for these things to grow; I hypothesize that the biggest ones are at least a decade old. A decade’s a long time for a mushroom to grow. Secondarily, only the bulb stalks are visible when no disturbances are around, and gathering clippings from the Forest is an endeavor of pure horror as it usually involves at least one party getting partially digested. Another member or two of the group must work quickly to hack away a piece of tendril or two as they being restricting the movement of the poor soul that volunteered to be the bait. Many more tendrils replace the ones lost, the ‘stomach’ is formed, and the bait is promptly ‘regurgitated’. My assistant is almost too eager to harvest more clippings from the wilderness to research, and looked crestfallen when I told him we could soon start using the more docile, non-digesting cultivated Lightbulbs. That boy ain’t right. Regardless, this marks the conclusion of my notes on the peculiar Lightbulb. Please avoid discussing Lightbulbs around Caramel - She gets incredibly vile and descriptive about the things she’d want those tendrils to do to her. References [https://desuarchive.org/mlp/thread/32144682/#q32250047 https://desuarchive.org/mlp/thread/32144682/#q32250047] See Also